Blu-ray recordings may
be video, audio or most commonly video plus audio.
If the video is a distraction turn it off though I
would suggest watching the video at least once as at
times it can be interesting or entertaining. The
first review this issue is a particularly fine
example featuring stunning costumes and widely
appealing music. Naxos has immediately followed
their first high definition audio only release that
I reviewed in the previous issue with more audio
only here. For many listeners that will be a
distinct improvement in audio quality if the HDMI
digital output signal is used instead of the analog.
Greater clarity and a smoother treble range will be
noticed with many audio systems. Easier connections
needing only one cable for even multi-channel
surround sound output from a Blu-ray player is
appreciated by all. Sometimes new-fangled things are
even easier to use while offering better quality, at
least in the audio musical field.

The three ballets by
Kenneth MacMillan offer an extremely wide range of
musical composition and dance performances. The
Elite Syncopations is of strong, really strong
immediate appeal to all who have viewed it with
me-even those who are not ballet or dance lovers
usually! The female dancers are simply very
attractive with very vivid costumes to accentuate
their beauty. Women are as impressed as the men
watching their performances. The music, mainly by
Scott Joplin with ragtime piano playing is appealing
in the extreme and so are the male dancers' striking
costumes. This ballet with excellent audio quality
easily receives my highest possible recommendation;
no more needs to be said. The other two ballets are
very different than this one and from each other.
The Judas Tree is 180 degrees removed from the Elite
Syncopations. It is almost starkly and certainly
powerfully performed by mainly male performers.
There is no beauty in this almost oppressive
composition of dance accompanying music by Brian
Elias. It demands attention though possibly nothing
much more from many viewers. This is MacMillan's
last work for stage. The third and last ballet
presented here is accompanying Shostakovich's second
piano concerto, specifically a pair of allegros
flanking a lyrical andante movement. There are four
dance couples, one of which is a traditional lead
couple. There is no plot though the attractive music
and outstanding ballet dances have long made this a
ballet favorite. As with the other two, the audio
quality is simply excellent with no negatives though
not quite the almost instant projecting appeal of
the first.

Mahler's third symphony
is an outstanding though complicated work, perhaps
not easily appreciated by those new to classical
music. Possibly though, the many beautiful passages
would be appealing enough to easily outweigh that
potential negativity. It is the longest of Mahler's
symphonies taking almost two hours to perform.
Adding to the complexity is the presence of six
movements instead of the more common four.
Originally there were seven and the one eliminated
eventually became the basis of the much shorter
fourth symphony, kind of building it backwards from
the last (fourth) movement. Here the third symphony
features soloist contralto Anna Larsson, a good
solid choice, plus the female voices of a choir and
in some passages a children's choir is also
apparent. The variety of styles and juxtaposition of
life and nature is fascinating and ever changing as
envisioned by Mahler here. Repeated listening would
be required and easy on the ears with the excellent
full range recorded audio quality doing its best
with Blu-ray letting us look and listen to a great
dimensional depth of soundscape. At this point I am
returning after listening to the other reviewed
recordings and some that will arrive within the next
issue.

Hindsight is 20:20 so
they say and now I say that the overall sound
quality on this recording is absolutely superb and
not surpassed by recent others. The richness of the
trombones, horns, cellos and orchestra overall is
not to be missed though just as your listening room
affects your loudspeakers, surely the gorgeous
recording/performing venue is probably a major
factor; we must add the contribution of many
superior musicians that regularly join to form the
Lucerne Festival Orchestra to play with Claudio
Abbado. This model formed in 2003 has as its model
the elite group founded by Arturo Toscanini in 1938
as the first Lucerne Festival.

Compared to the third,
Mahler's beautiful fourth symphony might seem to
almost be a miniature composition. Long my favorite
Mahler work, surveys indicate that favoritism has
become world wide. To my mind it is not really
representative of Mahler; it is just my favorite and
relatively subtle overall. The great third symphony,
as above, is much more typical. All the positive
audio qualities attributed in the above review of
the third symphony are to be found here also, just
not quite to that glorious extreme.

The vocal performed very
ably in the last movement by mezzo-soprano Magdalena
Kozena sometimes arouses comments. The song is based
on a child's view of heaven as mentioned by Mahler.
The potential conflict is simply should it be sung
by a vocalist that has some child-like qualities or
not. Here the vocalist's voice is definitely not
child-like. The Ruckert – Lieder were first
performed just over one hundred years ago by a
baritone. They were not published until after Mahler
died and here they are sung by Magdalena Kozena
seemingly to fine effect. Though there are other
fine performances of Mahler's fourth symphony I am
not certain if any have the outstanding audio
quality of this one. So I can confidently recommend
it as near if not at the very top of my
recommendation list.

Antonin Dvorak's
compositions are popular world wide and particularly
here in the United States possibly partly due to the
fact that he lived in Middle America for a number of
months and that obviously influenced some of his
compositions (notably his Symphony No. 9, "From the
New World").

Many musical experts
believe that number seven with its dramatic passion
predominating, is Dvorak's finest symphonic effort.
Personally I really admire its third movement
scherzo but overall I definitely listen more often
to No.8. Here Naxos offers a pair of solid
performances surpassing what I had anticipated with
conductor Marin Alsop. Alsop and the Baltimore
Symphony are definitely in sync here and can stand
comparison with many if not most recorded
performances I have heard. Whether it is due to the
recording venue, the orchestra or the audio
engineers I can not be sure, but the overall audio
quality, while very acceptable, simply does not have
quite the full, rich and enveloping sound quality of
the above reviewed Blu-ray recordings that are or
almost are, state of the current recording art. The
Naxos recording offers value, excellent performances
and their perhaps unique ability to be easily played
without the need for a monitor or TV set to be used
for setup. We hope that ability becomes more common
with other companies soon.